Support platforms exist which can assist with the management and delivery of technical support services for software and other products. For example, it is not uncommon for an independent software vendor (ISV) to maintain a help desk, Web site, and/or other resource to permit users of the ISV's software products to receive updates, resolve bugs or compatibility issues, and/or otherwise use and maintain the software products.
The increasing prevalence of cloud-based networks and vendors providing software products to users in those cloud communities has engendered new issues for technical support for those applications in that environment. For one, many ISVs who operate in the cloud environment may not be able to efficiently provide or combine support services for all their products across all their users and/or across all clouds. Different cloud networks in which user-level virtual machines operate may, for instance, be supported by different underlying hardware resources, present different compatibility issues, and/or otherwise require higher-level support than one vendor may be willing or able to effectively provide. ISVs may also lack resources or desire to provide multi-tier support over multiple levels, including to track the service entitlements of a constantly shifting set of end-users in the cloud. As another point, an ISV may or may not be able to validate the operation of their software products on various types or combinations of cloud networks, so that existing or potential users may not avail themselves of a trusted certification service. It may be desirable to provide methods and systems for service aggregation using graduated service levels in a cloud network, wherein vendors such as ISVs or others can define, access, and deliver software support levels to users across a range of cloud environments, providing security, validation, and other services without the necessity of building or maintaining a dedicated support infrastructure.